Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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813. To ask the Minister for Health if aesthetic clinics are permitted to open during level 5 restrictions; the guidelines in place for the operation of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12815/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The public health restrictions public health restrictions at level 5 of the Government's Framework Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19 will remain in place until 5th April 2021, when a further review will be conducted. The Framework continues to provide an appropriate mechanism to guide decision-making, and it will continue to be supplemented by more detailed sectoral guidance in relation to measures that apply at each level of the Framework.

On 23rd February, 2021, the Government published the revised plan: Covid 19 Resilience & Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead. This three part plan reviews the learnings from our experience to date, considers the enormous impacts our efforts to manage and suppress the disease have had on our economy and on our society and sets out a cautious and measured approach to the easing of restrictions over the coming months.

Information on the revised plan is available here:

The Regulations in effect providing for the current public health restrictions are the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 701 of 2020) as amended by both S.I. No. 4 of 2021 and S.I. No. 29 of 2021. Part 2 of the Principal Regulations sets out what are essential services, including at 15. (h) "primary care and general and specialist medical practice activities;"

The Deputy should note that aesthetic clinics providing aesthetic treatments for cosmetic purposes are not considered essential at this time.

Information in relation to the public health measures in place at level 5 is available at: .